A lot of power packed into a small box, with room to grow!

Connect one, connect many.

the many ins & outs of pipes

Pipes is designed to work with your favorite MIDI controller. With as little as an inexpensive USB keyboard controller, you have a complete system for creating a ton of music. But it doesn't stop there. Pipes can handle multiple input devices while triggering high quality samples for multiple players at once, without sacrificing speed or quality.

Scroll down to get deep into Pipes...

Vince and our friend Jason Wexler mid session. Jason’s instrument keyboard is connected via USB while Vince is using both the touch screen and a Bluetooth remote keyboard.

Flexible, powerful, and easy to use.

ONE DEVICE TO RULE THEM ALL

From the studio to the stage, Pipes delivers. Simply connect your USB or 5-pin MIDI controller like a keyboard controller, a drum pad input device, individual drum triggers, etc.. Three USB ports are included, but you can add a powered USB hub if you have more triggers. Standard MIDI ins and outs are also included.

superior audio quality built in

The analog outputs can go directly to your recording device or a DI/mixer for live shows. The audio quality exceeds that of any computer, unless you are also connecting an expensive external audio interface. Not necessary for Pipes which natively delivers 64 stereo voices of high quality 48 KHz/24 bit sound. Samples can be in WAV, AIF, EXS, SFZ, GIG, or NKI format, or for maximum usability our MDA format is ideal. Users of our Mandala Drum can take advantage of onboard MDA drum instruments right away with Pipes. In fact, the idea of Pipes came from dreaming up the most badass drum sound module possible!

The connections you don't see

Pipes is both WiFi and Bluetooth enabled! Connect Pipes to your WiFi and download factory updates, your own files, new Tweakers and eventually, anything our Pipes Community dreams up thanks to our open source approach! You can also use WiFi or USB to back up your content stored in Pipes. Finally, with Bluetooth, you can connect an external computer keyboard or track pad if you choose.

Pipes has a lot to talk about!

ready to take a deep dive into all that pipes can do?

Choose between two versions with the exact same specs and functionality, the ONLY difference is the amount of onboard storage, either 32GB or 128GB. Both models boast the following features:

Pipes comes pre-loaded with a large onboard library of pristine, original, high-quality instruments, loops, and sounds. Getting started is simple – plug in your USB/MIDI device and start playing.

Pipes is created for musicians of any skill level or experience. Professional sound designers, bands, DJs and performers will love the power and flexibility of Pipes. At the same time, those just starting their journey will enjoy how easy it is to get started simply by exploring all the onboard instruments. Tons of presets included!

Pipes’ entire sound and instrument library loads at startup and can be triggered instantly, thanks to our patented audio engine powered by our unique Parallel Access ZDL technology. Parallel Access means your entire library is always loaded and ready to play. Switch between huge multi-GB instruments or sample sets immediately or play them at the same time! ZDL stands for ‘zero discernible latency’ which means the time between triggering the sample and hearing it play back feels instantaneous without any lag or delay. Even the world’s greatest drummers can’t tell, because ZDL was developed with their help!

Pipes comes pre-loaded with custom Tweakers which allow you to manipulate audio before it triggers. Advanced users can build their own custom Tweakers using the open source Pure Data visual programming language.

Pipes is pre-loaded with effects which can further manipulate your audio. And we’ll be adding more and more effects via updates, which are free for life! All effects parameters are controllable in real-time by MIDI or LFO's.

You can operate multiple internal pipelines (pipes) at once, each with their own sounds, instrument files, Tweakers and effects. You can split them or stack them to create rich, complex, original sounds, or use them separately, allowing multiple players to connect and trigger sounds and instruments at the same time.

Roll your own with Pipes. An open source GUI, a full list of Audio Engine OSC commands (Open Sound Control) and features like internal resampling offer you the ability to hack Pipes into your own personal sonic invention.

Pipes is compact, portable, durable and designed to be on stage. Pipes is housed in a steel + aluminum case which means that it’s the right balance of durability for rugged conditions without being too heavy.

100-240 external power supply for world-wide use. Backers will receive the correct plug adaptor for their territory based on where the unit is being shipped.

Pipes is an instrument, not a gadget or a toy. We want our users to enjoy many years of making music. We won’t be releasing a “new version” that requires you to buy new hardware to keep up.

Backers get free updates for life which includes Pipes firmware, software and content. Eventually we will open Pipes up to third-party developers, creating a marketplace for users to buy and sell their own original content and software.

All backers get lifetime support, which includes updates and tech support. Read about our warranty policy here.

Designed and built in California

TWEAKERS

Pipes comes pre-loaded with Tweakers, and many more will roll out after launch. Tweakers are pure data patches which programmatically affect sound triggers BEFORE a sample is triggered. What's unique about Pipes is that anyone can create their own Tweakers programmed in Pure Data and add their new creation to Pipes. Additionally they can share their Tweakers with the Pipes Community, and even potentially create very specialized patches which they can provide freely or even sell to members of the community.

Some factory pre-loaded Tweakers are:

Arpeggiators

Benders

Octave Up/Down

PitchFlux

VelFlux

AfterSwell

Touch

BeatMaker

EFFECTS

Pipes comes pre-loaded with effects which allow users to alter sound AFTER the sample has been triggered. All effects parameters can be controlled in realtime from the GUI or by MIDI continuous control or by onboard LFOs. MIDI Learn is offered to link hardware controller knobs and sliders to effects parameters. Over time new effects will be provided both as free and paid upgrades and potentially as third party additions (free or for sale) via the Pipes Community.

Some factory pre-loaded effects are:

Compressor/Limiter

Distortions (Overdrive/Fuzz, Bit Reducer, Down Sample)

Delay

Modulations (Flanger, Chorus, Ring Modulator)

Filters (Lowpass, State Variable, Resonant)

EQ

Reverb

Audio Files

ThIS IS WHAT PIPES SOUNDS LIKE

Pipes will come preloaded with a wide array of pristine, high-quality real sampled instruments and beats. Please note the instruments below are converted to MP3s so they can play easily on this site, but you can also download the full resolution, uncompressed audio in order to truly hear what Pipes can do!

MDA Files

Think of them like AIF or WAV fileS on steroids

The MDA file format was created by us and another reason why Pipes is in a category of its own.

A well sampled instrument requires hundreds or even thousands of individual samples, including different positions, velocity levels, and even round robins of every combination. Nobody wants to manage all those samples in order to play music, so we have created the MDA file. It is a single file containing as many samples as necessary to faithfully replicate an instrument.

MDAs contain special parameters which allow for fully sampled drums and all other aspects of traditional drum kits as well, which sets them apart from other compiled sample formats. As a matter of fact, other sample compilations, such as .EXS files and others, can easily be translated into MDA files for compatibility with Pipes!

All of this makes more sense when you see and hear the difference. Below is a video of Danny demonstrating our Mandala Drum product. This same technology is put to even greater use in Pipes.

Danny Carey, superstar drummer and casual wear enthusiast, performs a shootout between a real Black Beauty and our Black Beauty MDA file along with a competitor's drum pad and sound module. Close your eyes and you might not be sure if you are hearing the real thing or our Mandala version, however the competition's version will be painfully obvious...

Still have questions?

We’ve created an exhaustive FAQ section on our Kickstarter Campaign page. If you have a question which is not answered in our FAQ, then please reach out to us via the contact form or hit us up on Facebook and we’ll be in touch.